Latest Insurance News

State Farm Policyholders in Idaho to Receive Dividends Totalling $7.7 Million

By Joe Estrella, The Idaho Statesman, Boise Mar. 1--State Farm policyholders in Idaho will receive dividends totaling $7.7 million, according to State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., the largest automobile insurer in the nation. State Farm policyholders in 46 states, the District of Columbia and the Canadian province of New Brunswick will receive a total of $1.25 billion in the company's latest policyholder dividend declaration, approved by the State Farm Mutual board of directors. ...

State Farm to Pay Dividend of About $15 Per Vehicle

Mar. 1--State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. said it will pay its Michigan policyholders an annual dividend totaling $18.8 million. The Portage-based auto insurer said Michigan policyholders will get 3.4% of their semi-annual premium. The company, which is also the largest insurer of autos in the country with policyholders in 46 states and the District of Columbia, also said the average dividend per vehicle will be about $15 in Michigan.....We are unable to display this entire news item...

EDITORIAL: The Installment Plan

By The Baltimore Sun Mar. 2--It's time lawmakers mustered some serious outrage at the ridiculously high finance charges -- amounting to hundreds of dollars in some cases -- that a typical low-income Maryland driver has to pay for car insurance. How much would it cost taxpayers to correct this egregious situation? Absolutely nothing. And yet for years, legislators have been more inclined to protect the profits of "premium finance companies" than help make car insurance affordable. Fortunatel...

Payday for State Farm Clients

Mar. 2--State Farm, the state's largest auto insurer, will pay $91 million in dividends to policyholders in Texas, an average of about $32 per insured vehicle. The dividend amounts to 7.9 percent of a six-month premium per vehicle. Customers with less than $15 due will receive a credit, State Farm said.....We are unable to display this entire news item because this article's licensing expires after a certain amount of time. This article was originally published by Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fo...

Insurer Widens Teen-Driver Monitoring Program

Feb. 28--American Family Insurance is expanding its experimental Teen Safe Driver Program today to automobile insurance customers in Wisconsin, Indiana and Minnesota. Based on technology provided by DriveCam Inc., the program uses a video camera to record risky behavior by teen drivers. Installation and use of the cameras are free for a year to any of the company's auto insurance customers with teen drivers in the three states.....We are unable to display this entire news item because this ar...

One-Year Tuition Plan for L-Drivers

CAR insurers yesterday called for a minimum oneyear tuition period for learner drivers to save lives on the roads. They also want to limit passengers for young newly qualified drivers to cut the death toll. Nick Starling, director of the Association of British Insurers, called for the change when he spoke to the Commons transport select committee. He said: "Lack of driving experience and peer pressure is killing or seriously injuring four young people every day. "We need radical actio...

Seat-Belt Vote May Be Costly

Gerald Kearns congratulates Rep. Carl Wimmer for his work to stop the bill requiring Utah drivers to wear safety belts (Readers' Forum, Feb. 24). He calls it a vote for personal freedom. That may be a reasonable interpretation of Mr. Wimmer's vote, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was the best vote. If I am licensed to drive in Utah, my required auto insurance costs are based on the potential cost of any accident I might cause. If my state does not require safety belts to be used, the cos...

Insurance Ruling Benefits Rural, Urban Drivers

Do you live in the central city? In the suburbs? On a remote farm? It doesn't matter. Wherever you live in California, a ruling last week by Sacramento Superior Court Judge Loren McMaster will save you money. McMaster's ruling upheld auto insurance regulations that require companies to base rates ... on motorists' driving records, not where they live. ... Back in 1988, voters approved Proposition 103, which was supposed to bar auto insurance pricing based on ZIP codes. ... The initiative ...

Smith Bros. Tower to Carry State Auto Name

Feb. 23--State Auto Insurance Co. is claiming the water tower on top of the Smith Bros. Hardware Building as its own. The Downtown Commission yesterday approved State Auto's proposal to display its blue-and-white logo on the black, rooftop water tower that is the Downtown structure's trademark. Easily seen by drivers on I-670, the tower has carried the logo of tenants and owners since the building was renovated in 1998.....We are unable to display this entire news item because this article's ...

Corsa's Got It All Covered

CAR insurance bills can be an expensive annual headache - but not for New Corsa buyers! In a type of deal not seen in the motor industry before Vauxhall is offering buyers three years' fully comprehensive insurance for a oneoff payment of just pounds 399. The package is available to all drivers aged between 21-80 on the best-selling Club models, or 23-80 on the sportier SXi variants of the stylish hatchback. The pioneering scheme could mean huge savings, especially for younger drivers w...